1983 South African constitutional referendum

Last updated

1983 South African constitutional referendum
Flag of South Africa (1982-1994).svg
2 November 1983 (1983-11-02)

Are you in favour of the implementation of the Constitution Act, 1983, as approved by Parliament?
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes1,360,22366.29%
Light brown x.svgNo691,57733.71%
Valid votes2,051,80099.48%
Invalid or blank votes10,6690.52%
Total votes2,062,469100.00%
Registered voters/turnout2,713,00076.02%

South Africa 1983 referendum results by region.svg
Results by region
Stamp in identity document of a white South African recording their participation in the 1983 constitutional reform referendum 1983 referendum stamp ZA.jpg
Stamp in identity document of a white South African recording their participation in the 1983 constitutional reform referendum

A referendum on a new constitution was held in South Africa on 2 November 1983 in which the white population was given the opportunity to approve or reject the Constitution of 1983. This constitution introduced the Tricameral Parliament, in which Coloured and Indian South Africans would be represented in separate parliamentary chambers, while black Africans, who were the majority of South Africa's population, would remain unrepresented. The referendum passed with 66.3% of voters voting "Yes"; consequently the new constitution came into force on 3 September 1984.

Contents

Background

In 1981 the Senate was abolished and replaced with the President's Council, which was an advisory body consisting of sixty nominated members from the white, coloured, Indian and Chinese population groups. Following a request by Prime Minister P.W. Botha, the President's Council presented a set of proposals in 1982 for constitutional and political reform. This proposal called for the implementation of "power sharing" between the white, coloured and Indian communities.

The right wing of the ruling National Party (NP) rejected this proposal and a group of its MPs, led by Dr. Andries Treurnicht, a cabinet minister and the leader of the NP in the Transvaal province, broke away to form the Conservative Party (CP) in order to fight for a return to apartheid in its original form. However, Botha continued to be in favour of implementing the President's Council proposal and in 1983 the NP government introduced a new constitutional framework. A referendum was called for in order to determine public support for the reforms amongst white voters. The New Republic Party led by Vause Raw supported the new constitution, although it continued to call for black representation in Parliament.

Opposition

Both the Progressive Federal Party (PFP), which objected to the exclusion of blacks, as well as the CP, which objected to the participation of coloureds and Indians, campaigned for a "No" vote. However, many PFP followers and parts of the anti-government English language press supported the new constitution as "a step in the right direction". The conservative opposition to the reforms used banners with the text "Rhodesia voted yes – vote no!" reflecting on the transformation to majority rule in Rhodesia. [1]

The response of Coloured, Indian and black leaders were mixed. The new constitution was rejected by most Bantustan leaders and the Urban Councils Association of South Africa (representing the black township administrations) because it did not provide for black representation. Coloured and Indian parties that intended to participate in the Tricameral Parliament but also insisted on extending representation to the black majority. [2]

The United Democratic Front (UDF) was launched as a non-racial coalition to oppose the referendum and the subsequent elections for the coloured and Indian chambers in parliament.

Results

Are you in favour of the implementation of the Constitution Act, 1983, as approved by Parliament?
Is U ten gunste van die inwerkingtreding van die Grondwet, 1983, soos deur die Parlement goedgekeur? [3]

ChoiceVotes%
For1,360,22366.29
Against691,57733.71
Total2,051,800100.00
Valid votes2,051,80099.48
Invalid/blank votes10,6690.52
Total votes2,062,469100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,713,00076.02
Source: Direct Democracy [4]

By region

For counting purposes the provinces of South Africa were divided into various referendum areas. The following table shows the results in each area. [5]

AreaYes check.svg YesX mark.svg NoValid
votes
Invalid
votes
Total
votes
Votes %Votes %
Cape
Beaufort West 22,50274.427,73325.5830,2359330,328
Cape Town 221,51175.6171,45624.39292,9671,229294,196
East London 53,20277.9115,08722.0968,28925568,544
George 31,25673.2311,42626.7742,68214142,823
Kimberley 34,81566.0517,89833.9552,71311052,823
Port Elizabeth 60,66170.0825,90129.9286,56220886,770
Total423,94773.93149,50126.07573,4482,036575,484
Natal
Durban 123,78373.5844,44226.42168,225750168,975
Pietermaritzburg 50,51971.5820,06028.4270,57936670,945
Total174,30272.9964,50227.01238,8041,116239,920
Orange Free State
Bloemfontein 52,01965.8626,96034.1478,97933179,310
Kroonstad 55,48663.1932,32136.8187,80718987,996
Total107,50564.4659,28135.54166,786520167,306
Transvaal
Germiston 113,60065.3560,24134.65173,841900174,741
Johannesburg 194,39669.4485,55430.56279,9503,906283,856
Pietersburg 31,40347.4234,82752.5866,23024766,477
Pretoria 209,76357.13157,43342.87367,1961,035368,231
Roodepoort 105,30756.7680,23843.24185,545909186,454
Total654,46961.01418,29338.991,072,7626,9971,079,759
South Africa
Total 1,360,22366.29691,57733.712,051,80010,6692,062,469

Related Research Articles

Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or parliamentary chambers. It is contrasted with unicameralism and bicameralism, which are both far more common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State President of South Africa</span> 1961–1994 head of state of South Africa

The State President of the Republic of South Africa was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, outside the Commonwealth of Nations, and Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen of South Africa. The position of Governor-General of South Africa was accordingly abolished. From 1961 to 1984, the post was largely ceremonial. After constitutional reforms enacted in 1983 and taking effect in 1984, the State President became an executive post, and its holder was both head of state and head of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of South Africa</span> Legislative body of South Africa

The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-eighth Parliament was first convened on 14 June 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. W. Botha</span> Leader of South Africa from 1978 to 1989

Pieter Willem Botha, was a South African politician. He was the head of government of South Africa from 1978 to 1989, serving as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president of South Africa from 1984 to 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Party (South Africa)</span> 1914–1997 political party known for implementing apartheid

The National Party, also known as the Nationalist Party, were a political party in South Africa from 1914 to 1997, which was responsible for the implementation of apartheid rule. The party was an Afrikaner ethnic nationalist party, which initially promoted the interests of Afrikaners but later became a stalwart promoter and enactor of white supremacy, for which it is best known. It first became the governing party of the country in 1924. It merged with its rival, the SAP, during the Great Depression, and a splinter faction became the official opposition during World War II and returned to power. With the National Party governing South Africa from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994, the country for the bulk of this time was only a de jure or partial democracy, as from 1958 onwards non-white people were barred from voting. In 1990, it began to style itself as simply a South African civic nationalist party, and after the fall of apartheid in 1994, attempted to become a moderate conservative one. The party's reputation was damaged irreparably by perpetrating apartheid, and it rebranded itself as the New National Party in 1997 before eventually dissolving in 2005.

Elections in South Africa are held for the National Assembly, National Council of Provinces, provincial legislatures and municipal councils. Elections follow every 2 to 3 years with General Elections and Municipal Elections. The electoral system is based on party-list proportional representation, which means that parties are represented in proportion to their electoral support. For municipal councils there is a mixed-member system in which wards elect individual councillors alongside those named from party lists.

The Senate was the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa between 1910 and its abolition from 1 January 1981, and between 1994 and 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhodesian Action Party</span>

The Rhodesian Action Party (RAP) was a political party in Rhodesia formed in 1977 by a group of MPs from the Rhodesian Front (RF) who were dissatisfied by the leadership of Ian Smith and his attempts to negotiate an 'internal settlement' with African nationalists. Twelve members of the Rhodesia House of Assembly joined the party when it was launched in May 1977, including Ted Sutton-Pryce, Reg Cowper, Ian Sandeman and former Rhodesian Front chairman Des Frost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1981 South African general election</span>

General elections were held in South Africa on 29 April 1981. The National Party, under the leadership of P. W. Botha since 1978, lost some support, but achieved another landslide victory, winning 131 of 165 directly elected seats in the House of Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 South African general election</span> Last election in South Africa under apartheid

General elections were held in South Africa on 6 September 1989, the last under apartheid. Snap elections had been called early by the recently elected head of the National Party (NP), F. W. de Klerk, who was in the process of replacing P. W. Botha as the country's president, and his expected program of reform to include further retreat from the policy of apartheid. The creation of the Conservative Party had realigned the NP as a moderate party, now almost certain to initiate negotiations with the black opposition, with liberal opposition openly seeking a new constitutional settlement on liberal democratic and federalist principles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tricameral Parliament</span> 1984–1994 legislature of South Africa

The Tricameral Parliament, officially the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, was the legislature of South Africa between 1984 and 1994, established by the South African Constitution of 1983, which gave a limited political voice to the country's Coloured and Indian population groups. The majority African population group was however still excluded, their interests notionally represented in the governments of the black homelands, or "bantustans", of which they were formally citizens. As the bantustans were largely politically impotent, its principal effect was to further entrench the political power of the White section of the South African population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Republic Party (South Africa)</span> 1977–1988 political party in South Africa

The New Republic Party (NRP) was a South African political party. It was formed as the successor to the disbanded United Party (UP) in 1977 and as a merger with the smaller Democratic Party. It drew its support mainly from the then Province of Natal, and tried to strike a moderate course between the apartheid policy of the ruling National Party (NP) and the liberal policies of the Progressive Federal Party (PFP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Africa Act 1909</span> United Kingdom legislation

The South Africa Act 1909 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Union of South Africa out of the former Cape, Natal, Orange River, and Transvaal colonies. The Act also allowed for potential admission of Rhodesia into the Union, a proposal rejected by Rhodesian colonists in a 1922 referendum. The draft proposal was supported by the four colonial parliaments, but was opposed by Cape Colony premier W. P. Schreiner, who raised concerns that it would strip rights from non-white South Africans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apartheid legislation</span> South African legislations which were used to enforce apartheid

The system of racial segregation and oppression in South Africa known as apartheid was implemented and enforced by many acts and other laws. This legislation served to institutionalize racial discrimination and the dominance by white people over people of other races. While the bulk of this legislation was enacted after the election of the National Party government in 1948, it was preceded by discriminatory legislation enacted under earlier British and Afrikaner governments. Apartheid is distinguished from segregation in other countries by the systematic way in which it was formalized in law.

Although the Democratic Alliance of South Africa in its present form is fairly new, its roots can be traced far back in South African political history, through a complex sequence of splits and mergers.

Black suffrage refers to black people's right to vote and has long been an issue in countries established under conditions of black minorities as well as, in some cases black majorities.

Jan Christiaan "Chris" Heunis, DMS was a South African Afrikaner lawyer, politician, member of the National Party and cabinet minister in the governments of John Vorster and P. W. Botha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Constitution of 1983</span>

The Constitution of 1983 was South Africa's third constitution. It replaced the republican constitution that had been adopted when South Africa became a republic in 1961 and was in force for ten years before it was superseded by the Interim Constitution on 27 April 1994, which in turn led to the current Constitution of South Africa, which has been in force since 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speech at the Opening of the Parliament of South Africa, 1990</span> 1990 speech by South African president F. W. de Klerk

On 2 February 1990, the State President of South Africa F. W. de Klerk delivered a speech at the opening of the 1990 session of the Parliament of South Africa in Cape Town in which he announced sweeping reforms that marked the beginning of the negotiated transition from apartheid to constitutional democracy. The reforms promised in the speech included the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and other anti-apartheid organisations, the release of political prisoners including Nelson Mandela, the end of the state of emergency, and a moratorium on the death penalty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Convention (South Africa)</span> Constitutional convention

The National Convention, also known as the Convention on the Closer Union of South Africa or the Closer Union Convention, was a constitutional convention held between 1908 and 1909 in Durban, Cape Town and Bloemfontein. The convention led to the adoption of the South Africa Act by the British Parliament and thus to the creation of the Union of South Africa. The four colonies of the area that would become South Africa - the Cape Colony, Natal Colony, the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal Colony - were represented at the convention, along with a delegation from Rhodesia. There were 33 delegates in total, with the Cape being represented by 12, the Transvaal eight, the Orange River five, Natal five, and Rhodesia three. The convention was held behind closed doors, in the fear that a public affair would lead delegates to refuse compromising on contentious areas of disagreement. All the delegates were white men, a third of them were farmers, ten were lawyers, and some were academics. Two-thirds had fought on either side of the Second Boer War.

References

  1. Godwin, Peter (25 March 1984). "Whose Kith and Kin Now?". The Sunday Times Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 August 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2013. Those with unbendable prejudices (the most furiously racist of them being post-UDI immigrants) began to leave for South Africa. There they spread horror stories about Zimbabwe and, in the recent South African referendum on giving Coloureds and Indians the vote, flocked to vote for the right-wing parties behind such banners as 'Rhodesia voted yes – vote no!'
  2. "Survey of race relations in South Africa: 1983" (PDF). South African Institute of Race Relations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  3. "Proclamation No. 134 of 1983: Determination of referendum under the Referendums Act, 1983". Government Gazette of the Republic of South Africa . 219 (8885): 3–4. 16 September 1983.
  4. "Südafrika, 2. November 1983 : Verfassungsreform". Direct Democracy (in German). 2 November 1983. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  5. "Notice 874 of 1983: Result of the referendum held on 2 November 1983". Government Gazette of the Republic of South Africa . 219 (8960): 27. 11 November 1983.